


Syracuse

by follow_the_faerie



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), F/M, Mild Language, Pacifist Markus (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29589561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/follow_the_faerie/pseuds/follow_the_faerie
Summary: Eli has been operating from the shadows for years, helping androids wherever she could. With the devinacy cases gaining popularity and more and more androids demanding freedom, she might have to step out into the light to lead the world into a new era.
Relationships: Connor (Detroit: Become Human)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work generally follows the events of the game, however, at some points the timeline was altered to fit the story a bit better.  
> This is the first fanfiction i have ever written and english is not my native language so, please be kind.
> 
> The story is beta-read, but please feel free to point out any mistakes.

I closed the door behind me and turned to the light switch. The lights flickered and then turned on with a rumble. I tossed my keys into the bowl on the cupboard and hung my coat on the hanger near the door. Tiredly I strode into the living room and flopped onto the couch. “TV on.”, I commanded and the TV in front of me switched on. Just in time for the news. How convenient.  
“As the police are further looking into the cases of androids attacking their owners, a group of criminal androids have broken into the Stratford Tower to stream a ‘demand for equality’. Their suspected leader, a skinless android, demanded equal rights, support through the law and freedom for all androids. They claim that androids are sentient beings with a free will and thus see themselves entitled to be treated as equals to humans. Two watchmen were attacked but otherwise the androids operated quick and stealthy.”, the speaker said with a scandalous tone in her voice.  
I sighed and turned the TV off again. By now the androids were on the news almost every day. Here a cleaning android who sabotaged their work, there a household android who beat their owner to unconsciousness and fled. Although the public either didn’t really care or tended to side with the androids, the news still managed to portray them as defect machines or criminals instead of an intelligent species who fought for their freedom. This was a load of bullshit. I knew better than to believe everything the government and CyberLife told us. I knew that in most cases the androids in question were being abused and therefore only protected themselves.  
But most people did not think the same way or just didn’t care. That’s why none of those cases were decided in favor of the androids. Every time I thought of such injustice it made my world red with anger. That was why I had decided to not stay quiet and pretend to not care. I had found other people like me. Other people who sided with the androids and wanted to support them in their fight for freedom. We just didn’t know how to do that without making matters worse. So, we did the only thing we could. Finding lost deviated androids and helping them reach their destination. And that destination was the same for every single android, Jericho.

Because watching TV did not at all calm me down after a long day, I decided to take a walk. I put my coat back on, turned up the hood and breached myself for the pouring rain outside of my apartment.  
The night was chilly and together with the water coming from the sky like dumped from buckets, it was a rather unpleasant experience. Nevertheless, I felt content. Being soaking wet and cold to the bone can show, that one is still human and alive. A reassurance I needed after the absolute horrible day I’ve had.  
I had arrived at my desk at the DPD at nine in the morning, just like every day. Finding a surprise case file Gavin had left for me to go over and being told that I was to go on patrol that night had not made my start in the day very optimistic. So, I had sat down, instantly immersing myself in yet another case of deviant androids going wild. Gavin had left the file for me on purpose, I knew that. He knew exactly what those cases did to me and he had found joy in riling me up. Anyways, as everybody went home for the day, I hat gotten in the police car to start my patrol. Four absolutely boring hours later I had finally received the call for relay and rushed home as fast as I could.  
Walking the lonely streets of my district and breathing the clear night air did wonders to my mood. I even started jumping into the puddles for fun. I couldn’t get any more wet anyways, so why not let the inner child out? As I turned right into a small and dim lit alleyway, I saw two figures hurriedly hiding behind an old car. My curiousness had been wakened, so I decided to investigate the scene. Walking towards two suspicious subjects in the middle of the night in a more or less dark alley was a phenomenally bad idea, but my instincts surged me to go on. Carefully I put one foot in front of the other, making as little noise as possible. As I got closer to the old car- one of those that didn’t even drive on their own- I noticed that the figures were in fact not hiding from me. Outside the alley was a police patrol- probably Chris who was on shift after me. The police car was parked on the opposite side of the street and one officer stood on the footpath, searching the area nearby with a flashlight. Turned out I was right, and it was in fact Chris. I assumed he must have seen the two people run away and decided to investigate just like me. When I stood next to the car, I looked through the foggy windows. On the other side the two figures were sitting crouched together holding each other for protection. One was a little girl, probably ten years old and the other was a woman. They both wore ill-fitting and from the rain completely drenched clothes. I knew who they were. Their pictures were on the news just about one week ago. It was the female android who had punched her owner unconscious and then fled. Apparently, she had taken his daughter with her. She didn’t seem to have taken the girl by force though, regarding the desperation with which the girl held onto her. I decided to help them, so I passed the car and made my way towards Chris. He was standing with his side facing the alley, so he didn’t notice my presence until I stood directly in front of him.  
“Holy shit, Eli! What are you doing here? You really shouldn’t sneak around in the dark like that, I could have shot you! “, he exclaimed, pressing a hand to his heart.  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”, I explained. “I just saw you and wanted to come say hi.”  
“Well, I could have lived without that scare, but I’m still glad to see you. But I should get going, I still have to patrol half the district.”  
“I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work”, I said, giving Chris a half smile and a wink, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “See you tomorrow.”  
Chris turned around and got into the car. Less than ten seconds later, he was out of sight.  
I turned back around to the alley and the two people still hiding behind the car.  
“You can come out now, he is gone.”, I said, talking as carefully and quietly as possible. The android slowly left her hideout behind the car and made a few steps towards me. She stood a few feet away, still clearly defensive and ready to either attack me or take the girl and run. I held my hands visibly beside my body to show her I had no intentions of hurting them.  
“I know who you are. And I know that you need to hide. You can’t stay out here in the pouring rain, especially not with the child.”  
“Who are you and why did you help us?” The woman was ducking her head slightly, evaluating if I would be a threat to her and if so, how she could get rid of me the fastest. Now that I could see her clearly, she did not exactly look like the android on TV. Her hair was a lot shorter and she had died it a light blonde. She had traded her uniform for a dark pair of jeans with warm boots, a dark shirt, and a vest. On the head she was wearing a black hat, but I could still see that she had somehow gotten rid of her LED. Although her disguise was good, there was no doubt that she was the missing android. Her eyes expressed the same will to fight like her picture on TV.  
“My name is Eli and I want to help you because nobody should have to sleep on the street in such weather. And I also reckon that you need a place to hide and rest, maybe some food for the girl?”  
“How can I know that you won’t betray us? That you won’t call the police on us?”  
“You can’t. But if you want to survive this night you’ll just have to. Besides, I am the police. So, you won’t be bothered by any other officer.”  
The woman turned to the child and seemed to discuss their next step with her. The girl looked at me and I made what I believed to be a reassuring smile. The girl nodded and the woman turned back to me.  
“We will come with you.”  
“Great. Follow me then. And try not to make too much noise, or this will get unnecessarily difficult.”  
I walked past them and turned left in the direction I came from. They followed me quietly, keeping their distance. The way back was uneventful with just a few stray cats crossing the road here and there. As we came to my apartment, they stopped.  
“What’s wrong?”, I asked, wondering why they had followed me all the way here but refused to enter with me.  
“I just need reassurance that you won’t hurt us. We ran into many people who we believed would help but ended up betraying us. I need some proof that you’re not like the other humans.”  
“I understand. And I can give you that reassurance. Hold out your hand.”  
Hesitantly she put out her hand and gave me a questioning look. I took it and closed my eyes in concentration.  
“What are you doing?”, she asked, trying to get out of my grip.  
“Analyze my mind, my memory. Just like you’d do with an android.”, I commanded.  
“That is not possible. You are human, I can’t read your mind.”  
“Yes, you can. A human brain transfers information through electrical impulses. You can analyze and decode them just like you would with any android. And I can’t lie in my mind. Concentrate.”  
She closed her eyes. I could feel her intruding the most private and sacred part of me. But I had invited her in, so I endured her presence. With her reading every single one of my thoughts I concentrated on who I was and my intention to help. I showed her that I meant no harm to them and that my concerns were genuine. When I could feel her leave, I opened my eyes and let go of her hand.  
“That didn’t answer all of my questions. Who are you and what is Syracuse?”  
“Come in now, I will explain everything once were safe inside.”  
She nodded and took the girl by the hand. They followed me into the hallway, where I took their coats and hung them on the heater to dry. I then mentioned for them to follow me into the living room. We sat down. I seated myself in the cozy armchair and the two of them sat down on the couch across from it.  
“Do you want something to drink?”, I asked the girl, who had not said a single word since I found them. She shook her head and snuggled closer to the woman.  
“Well then I guess I should begin to tell my story, shouldn’t I? As I have already told you, my name is Eli. I work for the DPD. I wanted that job to fight for justice, like every young officer, but times have changed. Most people don’t care about justice anymore, they’re too afraid of a civil war. So, they project their fears into every android they meet which just produces more injustice towards you. I don’t believe that you’re just machines built to serve. That you’re standing up for yourselves and those you love is proof for that. You are sentient beings, equal to humans, maybe even better or more humane than most of us. You deserve the same rights every single human has. That is what I believe in and what Syracuse stands for. We are humans who want to help you fight for your rights. For a better future for all of us. Without owners and slaves, but with friendship and understanding. We dream of a world where our two species can live together in harmony, respecting each other and learning from one another. I funded our group about seven months ago, when the first cases of deviants made big news. It started with just me and some close friends, but then more and more young people wanted to make a change. So, we slowly became an underground network, that does its best to help. We can’t do much except from hiding deviants in our homes and helping them get where they need to be. Every open protest would attract too much attention, endangering us and the deviants we’re hiding. So, we operate in the dark, hoping that one day we will be able to join the fight for equal rights. Did that answer all of your questions?”  
I looked at them expectantly, trying to find out what they were thinking.  
The woman looked at me with an expression I could not read. It was something between utterly shocked and unbelieving.  
“This sounds too good to be true. How do I know that you’re not lying?”  
She still didn’t believe me. Didn’t trust me, but I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t want to imagine what they had been through since they were on the run and even before that.  
“You looked into my brain; you know I don’t lie. But if you still can’t believe me...”, I pulled down the collar of my shirt, revealing the tattoo sitting a few inches below my left collar bone right above my heart. It looked almost exactly like the emblem of the android revolution; the android triangle turned upside down, broken up on one side. The only difference was another intermission in the middle of the triangles right side. “This is our mark. We all wear it on our chest, showing our affiliation with the androids and especially the deviants.”  
Now I could clearly read her expression. It was astonishment. Her lineaments softened and she seemed to breathe out for the first time since she came here. She relaxed into the couch and pulled the girl closer to her.  
“That is unbelievable. We didn’t know that humans fought for us as well. How many of you are there?”  
“Currently Syracuse counts 108 members all over Detroit. And we are steadily becoming more. Mostly young people, though, ages 20 to 26.”  
“Thank you. You’re putting yourselves in danger for us. That is very noble.”  
“No. That is just the right thing to do, not a big deal.”  
“Still- My name is Kara by the way. And this is Alice. We are very grateful that we can spend the night here. And since you seem to have a lot of experience with deviants; do you by any chance know where we can find Markus? He is the only one who can help us get out of here.”  
“Markus is in Jericho, of course. It's the place where almost all deviants want to go. Some sort of sacred land, I guess. I have never been there, but I know where it is. I can bring you there.”  
“Why have you never been there when you know its location?”  
“I think we humans don’t have the right to be there. It is a place for androids who want safety and company. Androids that want a life in freedom. We humans have all that, so I think it’d just feel wrong to intrude that one space that only belongs to you.”  
“Oh. I guess that makes sense. So, when can you bring us there?”  
“We'll go tomorrow night. Going in daylight is too dangerous, plus I would raise suspicion if I didn’t make it to work.”  
“That sounds good. Again, thank you.”  
“Not a problem. Follow me, I'll show you where you can sleep.”  
I got up from my armchair and walked towards a door to my left. I opened it and made an inviting gesture towards the room. It wasn’t very big, but I thought I had made the best of it. It had a small window on the left. In the middle there was a bed big enough for two people, flanked on both sides by a nightstand. On the opposite wall hung a small TV. The lamps on each of the nightstands bathed the room in a warm light. An old closet across from the window provided enough space to store all personal belongings. The room itself was arranged to provide a comfortable atmosphere for a longer period of time, since I could never know how long some of my guests would have to stay.  
“You can stay here. The bathroom is the next door to your right. Just take any towels or anything at all that you need. If you need me, my room is just across the living room. Feel free to come and wake me any time. I should go to bed. Have a good night.”  
“You too.”, Kara answered, gratitude in her voice.  
Kara took Alive by the hand and they went to the bathroom together. I sighed and retreated into my own room, suddenly feeling all the pressure and tiredness washing over me. As I lay in bed, I thought about the day to come, or rather the following night, but in the end, I was too exhausted to think of a plan. That would have to wait till tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke to the lovely sound of my alarm, punching my brain like needles. I opened my eyes, hitting the alarm with a passion I didn’t know I had until it finally stopped. Groaning I got up to drag myself into the bathroom. A long hot shower has always helped me come to live and today as well, it magically transformed me into a functioning human being. A bit less grumpy than before, I went into the small kitchen of my apartment.

Kara was already busying herself on the cooker, an amazing smell of bacon and eggs filling the whole room.

“What are you doing there? It smells fantastic!”

“I just wanted to show how thankful we are, and I figured a good breakfast would make your day a lot easier and therefore lift our chances of reaching Jericho in one piece.”

“Thank you, a lot, I didn’t expect that.” I started setting about the most delicious breakfast I had had in a long time. “While I’m at work I have to ask you not to wander about in the district. With all the deviant cases there are a lot more patrols on the streets than usually. So please stay inside for your own safety. I will give you my phone number in case anything happens.”

“Okay. Thanks, we will just stay put. It’s best if Alice gets a day to rest anyways.”

“Great. I have to go now. I’ll be back at around six and then we’ll discuss our plan. We’ll head out at midnight.” With these last instructions I put on my work coat and headed out the door.

As I arrived at the DPD I noticed a big stash of files already waiting for me. With a sigh I sat down and got to work. A hand on my shoulder brought me out of a lost-car-case. I welcomed the interruption and turned around to whoever was separating me from these incredibly boring cases. It was Chris, who looked at me with a scowl.

“We have a meeting in the conference room. Everybody is supposed to come in.”

Together we headed to the room at the end of the hallway. Rows of tables were arranged in front of a speaker’s podium and a huge screen. Captain Fowler stood behind that podium, waiting for everyone to shut up. The room was filled with all officers on duty, expectantly looking at Fowler.

“Alright listen up! The deviant cases are taking over, so we have to set up a team to look into those. It doesn’t help if everyone is involved a little. We need some people who have all the information collected to finally get to the core of the problem and solve those cases. I need volunteers.”

Behind me Hank chuckled. He had been in the DPD for more than fifteen years and knew that nobody would be willing to look into those cases. They were awfully clear and very mysterious at the same time. The suspected android was always found guilty, but nobody could get behind why they did it. It wasn’t in their program to disobey their orders. Although the suspect always claimed they did whatever they did out of self-defense, most officers didn’t take that for a reason. After all they are just machines without self-preservation, right? So those cases were basically unsolvable.

“Thank you, Hank, for your volunteering. Now that that is dealt with you can all go back to work. Hank, come see me in my office for further instructions.”

Hank began expressing his displeasure in a very loud way and followed Fowler info his office, all the while shouting profanities at Fowler’s back. The office doors closed, so nobody could hear the following discussion, but it involved Hank throwing around is arms in a manner very unlike him and Fowler going red with anger and slamming his hands on the table. After that Hank was very still and very quiet, so I assumed he must’ve given up on the topic and accepted his fate. I was only glad that Fowler didn’t put me into those deviant cases. It would have messed with my morals a lot and I’d probably had given myself away very quickly.

Hank and Fowler left the office and went outside the building. A few minutes later they returned, a tall man following right at their heels.

“Ok. So, to get to know each other better why don’t you show him around the DPD, right Hank?” Fowler said with a voice that didn’t allow any protest.

Hank sighed and made his way to his desk, which was just next to mine.

“Who is your new friend, Hank?” I asked, desperate for any distraction from my work and also dying to know who this insanely attractive man was. When I took a closer look at him, I noticed the blue triangle and the model number on his uniform and the bright blue LED on his right temple. That man was an android!

“My name is Connor. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.” The android introduced himself. “I’ll be working on the deviant cases with lieutenant Anderson.”

That was news. It meant CyberLife must be really desperate to finally get rid of the deviant problem if they’re even developing a new android model to do so. He looked like he was specifically designed for the deviant hunt. Tall, long legs, that could probably run high speed, and a strong body with lean muscles that were visible even through his uniform. But as much as he was designed to hunt; he was also made for human interaction. His face was symmetrical with high cheek bones. He had brown eyes that were surprisingly expressive for a non-deviated android. His brown hair was slicked back except from one stand of hair that seemed to have fallen out and now brushed his left eyebrow. All in all, he was incredibly human and way to perfect looking at the same time.

“Nice to meet you. I am Eli.” I answered, although I knew that he had already scanned me and probably knew more about me than my closest friends.

“Okay plastic prick. Let’s get going. There has been a murder in Burwell Street.” Hank grunted and left the room without looking back to make sure that Connor was actually following him.

“I have to leave. It was a pleasure to meet you Eli.” The android said, hurriedly taking after Hank.

With a hum I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I sure hoped that this new development wouldn’t get in my way. This was going to get very interesting, that much was certain.

After Hank and Connor left, the day was more or less uneventful. No calls for backup or anything of that sort so I just stayed on my desk doing all the work one of the newcomers could have done as well. In my mind I replayed the plan I had come up with for our way to Jericho. Our route had to cross as few police patrols as possible while still being quick and avoiding any bigger streets. I had come up with one route that matched all those criteria, but we still had to cross one patrol route. So, I had to make sure at what position the patrol was at any time. No big deal if I could find out who was to go on patrol at around midnight. Then I could just slip them a tracking device, and everything should work out. I got up from my desk and looked at the schedule of all officer’s shifts that was displayed in the entrance hall. Wednesday, 10pm to 2am, Gavin Reed. Oh, wasn’t that just fantastic! My favorite person in the whole department. Slipping Gavin, a tracking device would not get easy. We weren’t exactly very touchy with each other.

I looked around to locate where the asshole currently was. Gavin made his way towards the break room in that exact moment, so I grubbed about in the drawer of my desk for a tracking device. Keeping police equipment in your personal space was strictly forbidden, still I always had some minor gimmicks close to me at all times. One could never know when they’d come in handy. When I found what I had been looking for- a tracking device in the form of a rectangle, thin as a sheet of paper with a self-adhesive coating, I made my way into the break room. Now I had to find out where to best put it. Gavin’s Jacket? No that was too risky. The tracker could fall off or Gavin could change his jacket. It had to be a spot that he wouldn’t touch or strain for at least another six hours. Somewhere on his leg or his foot, I decided, would be the best place. So, I thought of a plan and went straight to its execution. Gavin was making himself some coffee. Casually, I went over to him and positioned myself on his right side. I started preparing hot water for a cup of tea, like I normally would. I had peeled the cover from the sticky side of the tracker and lightly glued it to my finger. While pretending to not even care about Gavin’s presence, I made sure to stand way too close to him. He had to jostle me with his right arm at some point. As he pulled the pot out from the coffee machine, he tackled me with his elbow. In a way that I would describe as a dramatic masterpiece, I knocked over my mug full of hot water and pretended to have burned my hand. As I knelt down in agony, I made sure to curse as violently as possible to make my performance more believable and also to keep Gavin entertained and unsuspecting. While he was still laughing at my clumsiness and clearly found immense joy in my pain, I quickly put the tracker to the inside of his pants, just above the hem. Scrunching up my face in my pretend pain I got back up and hurried to the bathrooms while muttering about needing to cool my hand. I spend a few minutes there and then returned to my desk. Gavin gave me a gloating look but didn’t harass me any further. After throwing a look at the clock that hung over the door to Fowler’s office, I packed my bag and left for the day.

Due to my little spy operation, I was home half an hour later than I said I’d be. Kara was already pacing up and down the living room and ran towards me as soon as she heard my key turn in the lock.

“I already thought didn’t come back! I thought maybe something happened or they found out about your plan! I was so worried.” She exclaimed, visibly flustered.

“I’m sorry. Preparing everything took longer than I thought. But I’m very flattered that you were so worried about me.” I answered in a poor attempt to lighten the mood.

Kara went into my guest room to wake Alice so I could explain the plan to the both of them.

“Okay so listen to me. This is not going to be easy and we have to move very quietly and quickly. I found a route that only passes one police patrol, which is a very good thing. I also wired the detective who will be on patrol so we can always see where he is.” To emphasize my statement, I held up my phone. “Problem is, we’ll have to go through a lot of backyards, so prepare for some parkour.” I was so busy showing them our route on various maps and familiarize them with the different obstacles that I didn’t notice the time flying. At half past eleven Kara interrupted me in yet another lecture about stealthiness and we all went to our rooms to make some last preparations. Kara’s and Alice’s clothes were dry. In addition, I gave Alice some gloves and a hat against the cold and Kara a combat knife for protection should anything happen to me or should we get separated. At midnight sharp we headed out of the door.


	3. Chapter 3

We took the same way I had walked when I had found the two of them the previous day. Glancing around the corners and walking with our heads lowered we probably made a very suspicious trio. But due to the cold and Detroit weather being as marvelous as always- meaning rain pouring from the sky- we were pretty much the only people on the streets. I repeatedly checked my phone to see where Gavin was patrolling at the moment and to take another turn should he come too close. Until that point it all had been very easy. Now came the steeplechase through the backyards. Preferably without waking up any sleeping citizens or dogs. Speaking of which, as we passed a particularly overgrown backyard, we found ourselves facing a huge Saint Bernard. The dog looked right at us and then began to bark without hesitation. We somehow had to get around him without the risk of getting hurt and leaving traces. The dog did not necessarily look aggressive, but it was almost as big as a bear and still did its job as a guard. It barked so loud that probably everybody in a 500-meter radius could hear. We heard a rumble inside the house, and I tried to calm the animal in front of us down as quietly and fast as possible. Ducking my head and almost crawling towards it on all fours I inched closer until I was close enough to pet it. Carefully I put my hand out and let the dog smell it. “I’m a friend.” Is said, my voice thin with the fear of losing my hand to a hungry bear-dog. “I don’t want to hurt anyone; we just need to pass through here and then we’re gone.” Talking to that animal like it could understand a word I said was nonsense, but it gave me strength and also seemed to calm the dog down. It lowered his head and then lay down on the lawn in front of me to let me pet it. I was astonished. Had I just compared that dog to a monster when in fact it was a huge floofball? As I stared to give the puppy in front of me a quick belly rub, the door of the house screeched.

“Sumo?! What the hell is going on out there?” That was Hanks voice. Of course, we had to run through the only backyard that belonged to a police officer in a mile’s radius.

He hadn’t seen us yet, so I pushed Kara and Alice past the dog. As it noticed the android it restarted its thunder like barking. I tried to shush it, but it wouldn’t listen anymore. Kara, Alice, and I had made it to the backside of the yard and Kara was pulling Alice up the fence, when Hanks head popped out of the door.

“Sumo, what’s going on? Is there someone?” Hank was now fully stepping out of the house and walking towards the dog.

I pushed Alice up with so much force that she would have flown over the fence if Kara hadn’t caught her. As Hank still tried to calm his dog down, looking around his garden to see why the dog had decided to wake the whole neighborhood, I heaved myself over the fence, took Kara by the hand and ran, pulling both Kara and Alice with me. Hank must’ve heard me flop onto the ground like a sack of potatoes, because he ran towards the back of his garden to take a look.

All he could see through the holes of his fence were three silhouettes far in the distance making their way away from him as fast as they could. Because they hadn’t broken into his home and didn’t seem to have stolen anything from his yard, Hank decided to let it be. It would be pointless to try and chase them in this weather anyway, the rain washed out all the traces.

As soon as I thought we were out of sight, I came to a stop to take a breath. That did not at all go as planned. Why the heck hadn’t I known where Hank lived and that he had a dog? We had been working together for two years! Still trying to analyze where I had made a mistake in planning our route, I didn’t notice the car turning into the street we were standing in. Kara took me by the hood and pulled me around the corner of a house. I looked at the car. That couldn’t be. For confirmation I checked my phone. Well, weren’t we the luckiest people on earth. The car driving towards us was a police car and the driver was in fact Gavin. And as if the universe hadn’t betrayed us enough, Gavin stopped the car only a few feet away from our hideout. Kara looked at me with fear in her eyes.

“What are we going to do now?”

“We have to wait and pray that he doesn’t see us. He normally isn’t very thoroughly on his patrol, maybe we’re lucky.” I tried to sound confident but in my brain the gears rattled. If he saw us, we had to run. There was no way I could beat Gavin in hand-to-hand combat even though I wished I could. I couldn’t shoot him either. That would raise too much attention. Also murdering people was wrong, even if it was Gavin. If he spotted us, I just hoped that he thought the same way.

Gavin got out of the car and took a few steps in our direction. Then he put a hand into his pocket and pulled it out holding a pack of cigarettes. He lighted himself a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

“Just stay very still and don’t make any noise.” I whispered, shielding the two refugees from sight with my body. Alice let out a small whimper and Kara quickly pulled her towards her body.

“Everything will be alright.” She assured the small girl.

Gavin had finished poisoning his own body and took a look around. Fortunately for us he didn’t even have a flashlight so our chances of staying hidden were pretty good. Gavin stretched, yawned and got back into his car to drive off. When he was out of sight, we stumbled out of our hideout.

“That was way too close. I am so sorry, guys. With all the excitement about the dog I totally forgot to check for Gavin.”

“It’s okay. He didn’t find us. Is Jericho still far away?” Kara gave me a quick pat on the back.

“No, we’re almost there.” I reassured her and started moving again.

We crossed a few more roads and came to a stop in front of a port. There were some containers and transportation vehicles to our left and a huge brick wall to our right. We squeezed through an opening in said wall and walked towards the pier. It made a turn to the right and we could see a huge freighter. Jericho was written in bold letters on its side. Really, to me it was a mystery that no human had found Jericho yet. It was neither very well hidden nor inconspicuous.

“There we are. Welcome to Jericho.” I said and put my arms out in a showman like gesture.

Kara’s eyes widened. “We really made it. Thank you so much. We couldn’t have done it without you!” Kara pulled me into a tight embrace and if I didn’t know we were friends, and she was just exited I would’ve believed she tried to break my ribs. “How can we ever repay you?” She asked, eyes shimmering with tears of joy.

“Again, it's not a big deal. But could you do me a favor? Can you find out if an android named Hana has made it to Jericho? She was my childhood friend, but one day she vanished after she had seemed off for some time. I just want to know if she’s okay.”

“Sure, I can do that. Thank you so much. It was a pleasure to meet you Eli, head of the android alliance.” She gave me a last hug and then grabbed Alice’s hand. Alice turned around to me and gave me a shy smile, before the both of them made their way towards the security androids guarding the entrance.

I took one last look at my new won friends and then turned around. As much as I wished to explore Jericho myself, I had no right to. And with the knowledge that I had saved two more lives today, I returned back home.

Even though I had known Kara and Alice for only one day, I somehow missed them. They were nice company. Without them, my apartment felt empty. But it wouldn’t stay like that for a long time, I believed. Soon, another deviant would need my help. I tried not to psychoanalyze myself, but I was starting to think I might have developed some sort of helper complex. In addition, I felt incredibly lonely any day the guest room stayed empty. So, the next week I worked for as long as I could, till Fowler threatened to take my badge if I wouldn’t leave. After work I would go out, search for company in clubs and bars, trying everything to stay out of my way to big, empty apartment. That was, until one night I came home, severely drunk, and exhausted from the work loaded week.

I turned the key in the lock, slid the door open and turned on the lights. I tossed my keys into the bowl on the cupboard and hung my coat on the hanger near the door. When I came into the living room, to watch some TV and revel in self-pity, I was stopped in my tracks. Something was off. I looked towards the armchair and almost had a heart attack. In my chair was sitting Markus. The same Markus that had cared for my dear friend Carl Manfred and that now led the android revolution. When he saw that I was about to just fall over from shock, he ditched his cool attitude and ran towards me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” He helped me sit down on the couch.

“‘M just a little surprised, that’s all. What on earth are you doing here? And how the hell did you get into my apartment?”

Markus ignored my last question and just went on. “A few days ago, a woman came to Jericho. I bet you know her. Her name is Kara. She asked for a Hana and when I wanted to know why she was looking for her, she told me about you. It was a rather interesting story and when she mentioned your name, a bell started ringing in my head. Weren’t you friends with Carl? I reckon I saw you few times at his mansion.”

“Yes, Carl and I were good friends, I’m so sorry about what happened.” I replied with a sad voice as my thoughts drifted to the most talented artist I had ever met.

“Thank you. But this isn’t what I came here to talk about. I want to know more about Syracuse.”

“Sure. But I’m fucking wasted, so instead of telling you, let me show you.” I held my hand out just like I’d done to Kara. Markus just stared at it in confusion. With a glaring look I extended my hand again, this time a bit more aggressive. He got the clue and grabbed my arm.

“Now concentrate on the spots where were touching and follow the electric impulses that rush through my nerves. You can read me, like you’d read any android.” The sensation of having another presence in my mind would never get less unpleasant, but at the moment I couldn’t trust myself to tell the story correctly. Also, I thought it was pretty fucking amazing that androids could do that, and I was hella proud of my discovery.

Markus let go after a little while and just stared at me in disbelief. After what felt like an eternity, I finally found my voice and started to form a more or less coherent sentence.

“Was that all you wanted to know?”

“How did you discover that we could do that? Are you aware that this is incredibly dangerous? What if someone finds a way to manipulate you while they’re in your mind? And why the hell didn’t I learn about Syracuse earlier?” Markus was like a fountain of questions, the most urgent ones just sprinkling out of him and I could see even more bubbling just beneath the surface.

“Ok so I’ll answer in chronological order. I discovered this cool trick when I was 18. My best friend and I were fooling around and discovered it more or less by accident. I didn’t know that someone could be able to fuck with my head, but thanks for revealing another thing I need to worry about. And last but not least; you didn’t learn about Syracuse earlier because we are a secret underground network and that wouldn’t stay that way if we told everyone.”

“I want you to fight with us.” His statement was blunt and caught me off guard. I must’ve looked at him like he was out of his mind because he followed up with: “I mean, if you want to. We can’t force anyone to fight, especially not against their own people-”

“No, no, no!” I interrupted him. “We totally want to join your fight! That’s what we’ve been preparing for since the first day. We want to help make a better future for humans and androids.”

An uncomfortable silence followed. How where you supposed to react when you just promised someone to follow them into battle and possibly into death?

“So, what’s the plan, boss?” I asked in an attempt to break the silence.

“Let’s get to Jericho first. We can plan everything from there.” Markus was already shoving some of the fruits I had in my kitchen into my bag and proceeded to try and stuff me in my coat.

“Hey, hey, hey! Not so fast. As much I’d love to come to Jericho, I still have to go to work. They are gonna get suspicious if I just vanish from the face of earth!” My very drunk self tried to reason with the android that was currently trying to push me out of my door.

“Just call in sick. That should do for a few days.”

“Yeah, it would, but your revolution won’t just take a few days will it? Also, there kind of is a new part to the equation...” I told him everything I knew about Connor and his mission. “I think right now I would be most of use if I’d continue to go to work and found out as much as I could about Connor and CyberLife’s plans. Like some sort of secret agent.” I was way too excited about this thought, but Markus seemed to get my point.

“That’s a good idea. We will stay in contact until we have a real plan for the revolution. You can still come to Jericho whenever you need to. You will be welcomed with open arms. I will tell the others about you.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Great. Have a good night.” Markus nodded at my approval and headed out the door. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.


End file.
